A Rainy Halloween
by The Invincible Kid
Summary: It's the worst Halloween ever. First, Aria gets soaking wet, then scared out of her wits, then has to spend the night at Roy's. Oh,scratch that. Best Halloween ever! Entry for Rune Haven's Ocotber contest, theme: Rain.


**[Teen!Aria x Teen/Adult?Roy] **

**So, I'm pretty sure there isn't a Halloween holiday in Rune Factory. But I really wanted to write about Halloween, and enter this contest since I missed the last one, unfortunately. (Whiskey! Such a good theme!)**

**This theme was fun too and I had to make it fit with Halloween, so this is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy it! :D**

**I love the pairing AriaxRoy, though I like her with all the boys too. Almost as much as I like IvanxBianca! ;)**

**A Rainy Halloween**

Aria was starting to dislike Halloween.

It had always been her favourite holiday because seriously, who doesn't like to dress up and get free candy? But this year was different than the rest. It had been raining all day and still was, and she was absolutely soaked through. The rain was dripping off her large hat and down her exposed arms and stomach, making her shiver slightly. _At least it's warm out tonight_, she thought has she looked up at the round silver moon, soft drops of water now hitting her face. Grumpily she shook her head and continued on her way, dragging her almost full bag of candy behind her.

Thankfully there was only one house left to go to. Good thing too, because Aria was starting to freak out. The street lights were flickering, she kept hearing howling from outside the village and it felt like something was following her. She kept looking over her shoulder, mentally chastising herself for being a wimp. Likely it was just the holiday getting to her. And all those scary stories her dad, Kyle, had told her yesterday. Hiking up her skirt to run up the steps to the front door of the Blacksmith's, she made a mental note to tell off her dad later.

She pounded on the door and waited, impatiently shifting her weight from foot to foot. Then the door opened.

"Trick or treat!" she shouted, momentarily blinded by the bright light streaming out of the doorway.

"Cripes, Aria, is that you?"

She blinked rapidly, noticing Roy standing there in the doorway, his tall lanky form framed by the door. He leaned his forearm against the edge of the door, eyes widened at the site of the soaking wet Aria in front of him.

"Yeah, it's me."

Roy sounded bewildered. "What the hell are you dressed up as?" He took in her long skirt with the slit up the side, her wide brimmed hat and purple bandeau top, his cheeks dusted a light shade of pink.

Aria sighed dramatically. "Why is it that no one but Alicia realized I dressed up as her? And here I was, thinking this costume was better than my last year's Wooly one."

"I thought you were some prostitute witch, or something," he laughed, running a hand through his hair.

Neither teen noticed when the streetlamps flickered and went out completely.

"You aren't the only one. You should have seen my mom's face," Aria joked, then grew serious. "Now hurry up and give me some candy why don't you-"

Suddenly, a great howl echoed throughout the town, sounding as if whatever made that horrific sound was just around the corner of the house. Roy and Aria jumped, then Roy reached out and grabbed Aria's shoulders, pulling her roughly inside his house. He slammed the door closed and bolted it, leaning against it and breathing heavily. Aria clutched her pounding heart.

Once the two calmed down, she spoke, "I need to get home…"

Roy shook his head. "There's no way I'm letting you walk home! Haven't you heard the monsters howling all day? I'm surprised Kyle even let you go out trick or treating."

"Well, I can't just stay here!"

"Why not?" he grinned. "You can sleep in my mom's bed."

She frowned. "Where is your mom anyway?"

"She went to Kardia for the week. Said something along the lines of a guy called Emmet and really good beer."

Roy shrugged, and wandered over to the stairs, motioning for Aria to follow him up. Reluctantly, with one last look at the door, she picked up her bag and followed. She hoped her parents wouldn't be too worried about her.

"You realize, don't you Roy, that I'd probably be able to take out any monster that would attack me, right?" she teased, warming to the idea of staying here with her friend when he put the kettle on to boil water for hot chocolate.

He smiled. "It wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me to let you put yourself in danger, though, would it?"

Grudgingly, she had to admit he had a point. She stood in the middle of the floor, shivering in her wet costume, just looking at him. She watched the muscles in his back contract as he grabbed mugs form the cupboard and how his long hair fell into his eyes when he bent over the counter. All those years of working in the blacksmith shop had really taken their toll on him: out of all the boys in Alvarna, he had the nicest body. Aria blushed just thinking about it.

And just when he turned around, she shivered.

"Oh! I'll get you some dry clothes!" he exclaimed, rushing off to riffle through his drawer.

...

Half an hour later, Aria sat on the couch next to Roy, wearing one of his old shirts that was way too baggy on her. It was so long that she didn't truly need to wear pants, though she did wrap a blanket around her anyway.

When she stepped out of his room in that, Roy's face flushed red. "How i-is it, Aria? B-b-better?" he stuttered, unable to pull his eyes from her.

"Much. Thanks, Roy." She flopped down next to him, using the hot chocolate mug to warm up her freezing fingers. It didn't take her long to finish it.

"So," Roy cleared his throat, bringing Aria's eyes to rest on his blue ones. "How much candy did you get?"

Her eyes lit up, and she grabbed her bag, dumping it out on the smooth wood floor. Candy, chocolates, sweetmeats and lollipops rolled everywhere. A pretty good haul for such a small town.

Roy whistled. "Wow. I remember when I used to go trick or treating… but you got way more than I ever did."

Aria nodded absently, reminded that he was more than five years older than her. She sighed. Why did she have to live in such a small town with only three boys to choose from? There was a stoic grump and a girly boy, but the one she wanted happened to be so much older than her. It just wasn't very fair.

He noticed her sigh. "What's wrong, Aria? I thought you liked candy?" A small crease formed between his eyes as he frowned.

She shook her head and forced a smile on her face. "It's not that," she said, fiddling with a loose thread on the wool blanket wrapped around her.

A moment of silence descended on the room. Roy tried to meet his eyes with hers, but she avoided them. Moving suddenly, he swung his arm around her, pulling her up close against his side. Aria's face flushed, and she buried deep into his chest to avoid him noticing. He wrapped his arms around her, and started.

"What the- Aria, you're freezing cold! You're going to get sick!" He picked her up and carried her into his room, laying her gently on the bed and pulling the covers up to her chin.

She struggled. "I don't think this is really necessary…"

Then she sneezed.

Roy laughed. "I think it is. I'll warm up some water for a hot water bottle."

He left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Aria shivered in silence, wondering how she had managed to get here. In Roy's room. She would never admit it, but she had dreamed of this happening one day. Except the circumstances had been a little bit different in her dream. Thinking about it, she blushed deep red.

...

The morning light streaming in through the window woke her up. She tried to move but found she was unable to. Opening her eyes, she came face to face with Roy, who was deep asleep with his arms wrapped tightly around her. Panicking slightly, she ran her hand up her side, sighing in relief when she felt the soft cloth of his shirt. She hadn't remembered doing anything… devious last night.

Her movement woke him up. He yawned in her face, eliciting squeals of protest and disgust from her, which abruptly made his eyes open. When he saw her there in front of him, his eyes widened even more.

"Sorry…" he said, voice still sleepy. He rolled over, letting her go and the cold rush in.

She moaned. "No… I was so warm…"

Confused, it took him a moment to understand what she meant, then he swung back around, once more draping his arm over her.

She had just settled back into his side when he said, "I think I ate almost half of your candy last night, Aria."

She made a strangled noise, looking up to glare at him. Roy had a sheepish look on his face.

"You are so dead, Roy!"

Suddenly, a pounding was heard on the door downstairs, and they jumped apart, catapulting out of his bed. A muffled voice was heard through the window.

"Give my daughter back, now, Roy! What do you think you two are doing?" Kyle yelled, pounding his fist angrily on the poor wooden door.

Roy paled. "No kidding."


End file.
